Zach's Blog: July 2006

World Cup Fever

Zach caught the world cup fever over the past month (see all photos here). Unfortunately, living his whole life in Germany has confused him and he decided to go out and buy the German jersey (although he did make a game winning save!).

It was a great month to be in Munich. Every day the cafes were full of people watching the games, and after each victory supports would drive around honking their horns for hours.

Kurt & Dawn Ritzman were with us in Spain, but also came back to Munich for the first week of the World Cup. We were able to attend the Tunisia vs. Saudi Arabia game in Munich. Didn't sound like the most exciting match in advance, but the actual game was really quite fun. It ended a 2-2 draw which aparently was a huge accomplishment for the Saudis (I read the players were given a cash reward for pulling out the draw).

Soccer Hooligans

Gameday Warm-up

Yay! We're in the beer garden!

Zach doesn't want to leave Germany

As most people already know, we are leaving Munich in a couple weeks and returning to California.

What you might not know, is that the sudden news has really seemed to hit Zach the hardest. Outside of this photo we found floating around the web, we haven't seen him in days. Rumor has it he's been hitting the beer gardens every day trying to soak up his final few days in Munich.

Hitting the Beer Garden "German style"

Costa Del Sol

In early June we had a great trip to the Costa Del Sol area of southern Spain (see photos here). We had a wonderful condo overlooking the mediterranean, and some great company as Kurt and Dawn joined us for the adventure.

We spent most of the time at the pool, beach and on the golf courses, but we did squeeze in some day trips to Ronda and Gibraltor. Kurt and Dawn also did a great overnight trip to Sevilla. The trip ended with an overnight stay at a beautiful spanish villa that our friends Ryan and Jeni had rented a couple hours down the coast.

The abundance of pool time meant Zach was able to take his first attempt at swimming. He seemed a bit unsure at first, mostly because the water was a bit cold, but we think he started to enjoy it after a bit of time. Since we've returned to Munich, Mom and Zach are now regularly attending "Mommy and me" swim classes at the local pool. The reports from Mom say that Zach is still a bit unsure what to think about the classes. All the other babbies are either laughing, splashing, or crying, but Zach remains undecided and just concentrates on the task at hand. This weekend we are hoping to go to the pool as a family so Dad can see him in action.

Zach's first attempt at swimming